TY - JOUR
T1 - Accuracy of a community mental health education and detection (CMED) tool for common mental disorders in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
AU - Grant, Merridy
AU - Petersen, Inge
AU - Mthethwa, Londiwe
AU - Luvuno, Zamasomi
AU - Bhana, Arvin
N1 - Funding Information:
We gratefully acknowledge the on-going collaboration with the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Department of Health, the Amajuba District Management Team and service providers, and particularly the Ward Based Primary Health Care Outreach Teams from the Newcastle sub-district, and their households that gave their time in participating in this study. We also thank the South Africa HIV-Addiction Technology Transfer Centre, University of Cape Town for their input into the CMED training workshop.
Funding Information:
Research reported in this publication is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health under award number U19MH113191-01. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/8/23
Y1 - 2022/8/23
N2 - Background: Screening tools for mental health disorders improve detection at a primary health care (PHC) level. However, many people with mental health conditions do not seek care because of a lack of knowledge about mental health, stigma about mental illness and a lack of awareness of mental health services available at a PHC facility level. Interventions at a community level that raise awareness about mental health and improve detection of mental health conditions, are thus important in increasing demand and optimising the supply of available mental health services. This study sought to evaluate the accuracy of a Community Mental Health Education and Detection (CMED) Tool in identifying mental health conditions using pictorial vignettes. Methods: Community Health Workers (CHWs) administered the CMED tool to 198 participants on routine visits to households. Consenting family members provided basic biographical information prior to the administration of the tool. To determine the accuracy of the CMED in identifying individuals in households with possible mental health disorders, we compared the number of individuals identified using the CMED vignettes to the validated Brief Mental Health (BMH) screening tool. Results: The CMED performed at an acceptable level with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.73 (95% CI 0.67–0.79), identifying 79% (sensitivity) of participants as having a possible mental health problem and 67% (specificity) of participants as not having a mental health problem. Overall, the CMED positively identified 55.2% of household members relative to 49.5% on the BMH. Conclusion: The CMED is acceptable as a mental health screening tool for use by CHWs at a household level.
AB - Background: Screening tools for mental health disorders improve detection at a primary health care (PHC) level. However, many people with mental health conditions do not seek care because of a lack of knowledge about mental health, stigma about mental illness and a lack of awareness of mental health services available at a PHC facility level. Interventions at a community level that raise awareness about mental health and improve detection of mental health conditions, are thus important in increasing demand and optimising the supply of available mental health services. This study sought to evaluate the accuracy of a Community Mental Health Education and Detection (CMED) Tool in identifying mental health conditions using pictorial vignettes. Methods: Community Health Workers (CHWs) administered the CMED tool to 198 participants on routine visits to households. Consenting family members provided basic biographical information prior to the administration of the tool. To determine the accuracy of the CMED in identifying individuals in households with possible mental health disorders, we compared the number of individuals identified using the CMED vignettes to the validated Brief Mental Health (BMH) screening tool. Results: The CMED performed at an acceptable level with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.73 (95% CI 0.67–0.79), identifying 79% (sensitivity) of participants as having a possible mental health problem and 67% (specificity) of participants as not having a mental health problem. Overall, the CMED positively identified 55.2% of household members relative to 49.5% on the BMH. Conclusion: The CMED is acceptable as a mental health screening tool for use by CHWs at a household level.
KW - Community health workers
KW - Low- and middle-income countries
KW - Mental health
KW - Screening
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85137048483&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s13033-022-00554-7
DO - 10.1186/s13033-022-00554-7
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85137048483
SN - 1752-4458
VL - 16
SP - 1
JO - International Journal of Mental Health Systems
JF - International Journal of Mental Health Systems
IS - 1
M1 - 44
ER -